Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 29, 1993 TAG: 9308290093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GLASGOW LENGTH: Medium
More than 130 foresters fought the fire, which Ranger Vic Gaines said was set off by lightning that probably hit a pine tree killed by pine beetles.
Another fire started by lightning burned 5 acres a few miles away on Wednesday.
"The forest is tinder dry," George Washington National Forest spokesman Terry Smith. "It will take a good rain to reduce the danger. We've been dodging bullets for awhile and this was bound to happen sooner or later."
There was a 30 percent chance of overnight rain in the isolated area of Amherst County, five miles east of Glasgow. The fire, the 11th in the national forest this year, was discovered about 6 p.m. Friday, apparently after smoldering for two days. It had burned more than 160 acres by Saturday night, but no property was threatened. That makes it the largest fire in the national forest since 1,425 acres burned on Piney Mountain in October 1991, Smith said.
The slow-moving fire will kill many of the young pine trees and could destroy root systems of grasses and shrubs planted to stabilize the rocky soil, Forest Service officials said.
The mountain, called Peavine Mountain, was strip-mined for shale from 1800 until 1984.
The fire was difficult to control and hard on the foresters because of the steep terrain and hot weather, with the temperature reaching 92 degrees Saturday. However, wind speeds were less than 12 mph.
Foresters using hand tools and a bulldozer completed a ring of bare soil around the fire Saturday afternoon and began burning the vegetation toward the center of the fire. The controlled burning reduces the chances of the fire gaining intensity and breaking over the containment lines.
A helicopter was flown in from North Carolina about 5 p.m. Saturday and will be used to drop water and bombs the size of pingpong balls for controlled burning today, Smith said.
No firefighters had to be treated for injuries, smoke inhalation or heat problems as of late Saturday, he said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.